


The Ever Building Lie

by donutsweeper



Category: Graceland (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Lies, machinations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2742926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Odin Rossi had become a part of Paul Briggs, one that was getting harder and harder to hide. </p><p>Spoilers for episode 1x08 "Bag Man."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ever Building Lie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lannamichaels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/gifts).



> A Yuletide treat for lannamichaels.
> 
> Thanks to Kristin for the beta.

  
_Lies are like children: they're hard work, but it's worth it because the future depends on them._  
Pam Davis

* * *

There was no way out.

He knew this would happen. He _knew_ it. He'd known it was all going to go south the minute Bello refused to return to the changing room after the meeting. Johnny was bound to notice him exiting out of the wrong building. Once he radioed it in Mike would send Charlie to check out the changing room and come through the back himself. Three exits, three agents and Paul was screwed. 

Okay, so he couldn't leave, not without being seen. If leaving wasn't an option, then he wouldn't leave. Simple as that. He just needed to figure out how to do two things. First, he had to make it seem like Odin managed to get past one of the others undetected and second, he had to arrive on site in a way no one would question him about. They needed to accept his presence despite the fact none of them would actually see him arrive.

Think, think, think. He could try to hide, sneak around one of them and "enter" that way. Nah, he couldn't see that working, they were too good. That left taking one of them out and he hadn't planned for that, damn it. If he'd thought it was a possibility he'd have brought a taser, but he didn't and all he had on him was his gun. If he used that ballistics would be traced back to him in a second.

(Not that he'd shoot any of them. He'd known Charlie and Johnny for years and he was Mike's training officer for fuck's sakes.)

A quick look around didn't net him any pipes or rods or anything that he could use as a weapon to bludgeon one of his fellow agents with, so that just left what he could do on his own.

Hand-to-hand wasn't an option though - too risky, too time consuming and left him too likely to be observed by both the target and the others. Sneaking up behind one of them and grabbing one of them in a choke hold, however? That might work.

It'd have to be Mike; the angle was wrong for Charlie and there was no way he'd be able to get behind Johnny, not with him hugging the far wall like that. Mike, however, was out in the open. And, they've sparred enough times that he knew how Mike fought, which definitely gave him an edge.

Knocking someone out via a choke hold was tricky work, especially when they were actively fighting back. He had to be careful, so very careful. Not enough pressure and all he would do was piss the victim-to-be off, giving him the chance to get the upper hand, and all of Paul's schemes and plans would be ruined. 

But if he used too much pressure? Well, that would be even worse. If he was lucky, there'd only some minor brain damage or swelling of the spinal cord or trachea and, if found out and traced back to him, he'd get a note in his file about excessive violence. But there was also that chance he'd be _really_ unlucky. Too much pressure and suddenly he'd be facing a murder charge for taking things _way_ too far. 

Ninety-nine percent of the time Paul couldn't care less if he accidentally took things a little too far. But this? This was that other one percent. This time he was going to be cutting off the air of a fellow agent. A friend. Mike. 

But you know what? Fuck it. It wasn't a great option, but it was the only one he had. He had no choice. He'd just have to be careful. He could be careful. He would.

Grabbing Mike in the hold was easy, keeping him there? Not so much. As expected, he fought with everything he had, but he was no match for Paul. When the kid finally went limp he let go immediately, ignoring the pain from his side and easing Mike gently down to the floor.

Firing off a shot after "Odin" not only kept up the ruse but also brought the others there faster than any other method would. It was easy to send them off again though, to wrest back control of the situation. Not bad for a plan he'd improvised on the sly, but he didn't begin to relax until he could check Mike's pulse (strong, thank god) and Mike started to wake up.

Even then, for a moment he was worried he'd screwed up, that he'd finally gone too far. Mike's eyes opened, but didn't seem to focus the way that they should. Shit. Fuck. What has he done? What was he going to do if- 

No, no, wait. As he watched awareness crept onto Mike's face and his initial confusion was replaced by anger and disappointment. Mike grabbed his hand and his grip was strong and he seemed okay. But had he seen who attacked him? "Did you see Odin? Did you see him?" he asked. 

The frustrated grunt and annoyed smack of the ground told him everything he needed to know. His secret was still safe.

"Relax. Relax. Relax. Shhhh," he said, trying to soothe and calm him as Mike began making motions like he was about to sit up. Paul pushed him back down (gently, he'd already hurt him enough). "Stay down, kid, just stay down."

"No, 'm good." 

"You were choked unconscious, Mikey. I'm calling an ambulance." He kept one hand on Mike's chest, keeping him flat. He dug into his pocket for his phone with his other, preparing to call an ambulance.

"Briggs, no." Mike cleared his throat. "It's not necessary. I'm okay." 

"Yeah, I don't see you convincing me of that, let alone the Charlie or Johnny."

Mike huffed, but stopped fighting the issue, and started negotiating instead. "Think about it, the paperwork for an ambulance? None of us want that. You could take me to urgent care instead. That'll be fine."

It wasn't the worst of ideas. All things considered, the less Odin Rossi related paperwork the better. Filling out an incident report and submitting a few bills when they came was pretty simple in comparison to all the paperwork related to an ER visit, especially considering the fact that the EMTs would need to fill out their own reports as well.

He wanted to make sure Mike was okay, but not at the risk of uncovering anything about Odin. "Fine, but if the doctors there say you need to go to the ER-" he began.

"I'll go, no arguments."

"I hope you're right about this, Mikey." He offers his hand, slowly pulling Mike into a seated position and supporting him with an arm around his shoulders when the movement made Mike swallow and pale alarmingly. "You sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright, let's get you on your feet. One, Two, Three!"

Once on his feet Mike swayed for a minute, but Paul kept him from falling.

It was the least he could do.


End file.
